{
  "id": 15347654,
  "title": "Harvard and Cambridge to attend Hong Kong forum on role of humanities in AI age",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/harvard-and-cambridge-to-attend-hong-kong-forum-on-role-of-humanities",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-18T04:00:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post - Hong Kong",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post-hong-kong",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3371253/harvard-and-cambridge-attend-hong-kong-forum-role-humanities-ai-age"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit, organized by the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, will convene more than 50 university presidents and senior management from October 27 to 28 at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. Harvard and Cambridge universities are among the attendees. Ten local university heads will moderate panel discussions on education, the workforce of the future, and the role of AI in academia.\n\nPriscilla Leung Mei-fun, the founding president of the association, emphasized the importance of humanities programs in the age of AI. She asked whether universities should blindly develop AI and risk losing direction or instead promote humanities and human connections. Leung also noted that some AI companies are hiring philosophy graduates to establish ethical guidelines for the technology and suggested that future AI students may need humanities coursework.\n\nThe forum will provide an opportunity for foreign students, including one from each participating university, to learn about Hong Kong. The second edition of the summit, launched in 2024, will also examine Northern Metropolis university towns and collaboration between government, industry, academia, research, and investment. The government has opened applications for proposals to establish the first university town in Hung Shui Kiu by the end of the year, with results announced in early 2027.\n\nLeung stressed that overseas institutions would face significant challenges in entering university towns, as it is a self-financing project. She pointed out that prestigious universities possess the financial means to invest but questioned whether they have the vision to invest in the towns and what Hong Kong could offer them. The government hopes that Hong Kong can become a stepping stone for overseas institutions to enter the Chinese market, which has moved early in providing support for overseas talent to return to Shenzhen with their intellectual property.",
  "summary": "The organiser of a forum that will bring together Hong Kong and overseas universities later this month has said it hopes to spark debate on the role of humanities programmes in an era increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence (AI). The Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit, organised by the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship, will be held on October 27 and 28 at the…",
  "key_points": [
    "Harvard and Cambridge universities attend Hong Kong forum on AI and humanities.",
    "Ten local university presidents moderate panel discussions.",
    "Forum explores Northern Metropolis university towns and government-academia collaboration."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The presence of elite Western institutions at this summit signals Hong Kong's ambition to serve as a strategic gateway for international universities entering the Chinese market through specialized academic hubs.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Harvard and Cambridge to attend Hong Kong forum on role of humanities in AI age",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/harvard-and-cambridge-to-attend-hong-kong-forum-on-role-of-humanities-15348343",
        "published": "2026-10-18T04:00:16.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}